Solid waste-supported nickel nanoparticles: A sustainable, recoverable, and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for organic pollutant degradation

The processing of polymeric solid wastes into industrial processes is of outmost importance from an environmental and economic point of view. Herein, a simple and straightforward route was developed for immobilizing nickel nanoparticles on the surface of waste loose fill as a recoverable heterogeneous catalyst. The nickel nanoparticles exhibited a spherical-like shape and were not uniformly dispersed in the loose fill matrix. The carbonyl and/or carboxyl groups would initiate active sites along the loose fill chains, which serve as adsorption centers and tight fixing of nickel ions. The catalytic activity of nickel@loose fill nanocomposite was evaluated through the degradation of 4-nitrophenol, reactive blue dye, and mixture of both. The results indicated the catalyst retained 87% of its activity after 20 cycles. The use of a solid waste as a supporting matrix in heterogeneous catalysis may reduce the fabrication cost and improve the contact between the reactants and Ni nanoparticles due to the porosity of loose fill. The use of waste material made from renewable resources (vegetable starch) could explore genuinely and sustainable materials as alternatives to the traditional polymers in heterogeneous catalysis.